Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced an indictment of Salvatore Cascino and Bronx County Recycling, LLC for filing false documents with the State of New York to hide illegal disposal of solid waste.
ALBANY, N.Y. (June 14, 2010) - Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced an indictment of Salvatore Cascino and Bronx County Recycling, LLC for filing false documents with the State of New York to hide illegal disposal of solid waste.
According to the indictment, Cascino failed to list on three annual filings (2008, 2009, 2010) with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that unauthorized solid waste was received at Bronx County Recycling. Cascino was arraigned on three counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree before Acting Supreme Court Justice Daniel Lamont, in Albany County Supreme Court. Cascino was released on own recognizance pending a July 1 court date.
“This recycler dumped dangerous construction debris and then routinely filed false reports with the State to hide his crime, as charged in today’s indictment,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “My office is committed to the protection of New York’s citizens and the conservation of the environment.”
This indictment follows a previous indictment in Columbia County, alleging that between December 2008 and July 2009, Cascino and Bronx County Recycling recklessly operated an unpermitted landfill on New York State Route 9G in the Town of Clermont, where more than 70 cubic yards of solid waste was disposed of illegally. Attorney General Cuomo also filed a motion to force compliance with a consent decree prohibiting Cascino and his companies from accepting any solid waste at Copake Valley Farm. A 2009 search revealed that more solid waste had been dumped there since the effective date of the Consent Decree. Recent results of sampling of the solid waste revealed that it contained low levels of friable asbestos, which is regulated by DEC as a hazardous air pollutant. The motion is pending and seeks an order requiring Cascino and the other defendants to promptly clean up the waste under DEC supervision.
“Once again, Mr. Cascino is facing charges for allegedly flouting environmental laws and putting public health and safety at risk. This is simply unacceptable,” said State Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis. “Our agency is committed to working with the Attorney General to prosecute such cases to the fullest extent in order to prevent improper dumping and ensure a safe environment.”
Bronx County Recycling, LLC, is a registered construction and debris processing facility located at 475 Exterior Avenue in the Bronx,. A registered construction and debris processing facility is permitted to accept only uncontaminated, rock, asphalt, dirt and concrete and reprocess it for limited designated and permitted uses.
Attorney General Cuomo thanked the DEC for its assistance in the investigation. The case is being handled by Assistant Attorney General James Woods and Assistant Attorney General Catherine Leahy Scott under the supervision of Criminal Prosecutions Bureau Deputy Chief Richard Ernst and Bureau Chief Gail Heatherly with assistance by Michael Myers from the Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Bureau.
The charges against Cascino and Bronx County Recycling are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
According to the indictment, Cascino failed to list on three annual filings (2008, 2009, 2010) with the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that unauthorized solid waste was received at Bronx County Recycling. Cascino was arraigned on three counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree before Acting Supreme Court Justice Daniel Lamont, in Albany County Supreme Court. Cascino was released on own recognizance pending a July 1 court date.
“This recycler dumped dangerous construction debris and then routinely filed false reports with the State to hide his crime, as charged in today’s indictment,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “My office is committed to the protection of New York’s citizens and the conservation of the environment.”
This indictment follows a previous indictment in Columbia County, alleging that between December 2008 and July 2009, Cascino and Bronx County Recycling recklessly operated an unpermitted landfill on New York State Route 9G in the Town of Clermont, where more than 70 cubic yards of solid waste was disposed of illegally. Attorney General Cuomo also filed a motion to force compliance with a consent decree prohibiting Cascino and his companies from accepting any solid waste at Copake Valley Farm. A 2009 search revealed that more solid waste had been dumped there since the effective date of the Consent Decree. Recent results of sampling of the solid waste revealed that it contained low levels of friable asbestos, which is regulated by DEC as a hazardous air pollutant. The motion is pending and seeks an order requiring Cascino and the other defendants to promptly clean up the waste under DEC supervision.
“Once again, Mr. Cascino is facing charges for allegedly flouting environmental laws and putting public health and safety at risk. This is simply unacceptable,” said State Environmental Conservation Commissioner Pete Grannis. “Our agency is committed to working with the Attorney General to prosecute such cases to the fullest extent in order to prevent improper dumping and ensure a safe environment.”
Bronx County Recycling, LLC, is a registered construction and debris processing facility located at 475 Exterior Avenue in the Bronx,. A registered construction and debris processing facility is permitted to accept only uncontaminated, rock, asphalt, dirt and concrete and reprocess it for limited designated and permitted uses.
Attorney General Cuomo thanked the DEC for its assistance in the investigation. The case is being handled by Assistant Attorney General James Woods and Assistant Attorney General Catherine Leahy Scott under the supervision of Criminal Prosecutions Bureau Deputy Chief Richard Ernst and Bureau Chief Gail Heatherly with assistance by Michael Myers from the Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Bureau.
The charges against Cascino and Bronx County Recycling are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
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